MECHANICAL CHARECTERISATION OF MERCERIZED SISAL FIBER REINFORCED EPOXY POLYMER COMPOSITES

The objective of the current work is to study the Mechanical behavior of sisal fiber reinforced epoxy composites .In this work, the two i,e. treated and raw (untreated) sisal fiber are taken for the evolution of the composite material. The untreated sisal fiber is processed by sodium hydroxide to augment the wettability. The untreated sisal fiber and sodium hydroxide processed sisal fiber are used as reinforcing material for Epoxy resin matrix. In this activity, the sisal fiber is processed by 5% of sodium hydroxide for an hour and the specimen is produced via hand moulding technique. The mould utilized for manufacturing the composite material is by oil hardened steel material through a debonding agent spreading inside the interior. The quantity of sisal fiber is up to 30% of weight fraction for the whole composite material. The disparity in mechanical properties are examined and investigated. Over here, the tensile strength has computed by means of universal testing machine, and flexural strength has determined via universal testing machine along with flexural investigation setup of the specimen. Then the chemically treated and untreated specimens are evaluated and differentiated by means of Scanning Electron Microscope to learn regarding its bonding among fiber and resin along with surface morphology.